The Family Life Series
by Kelly Mullins
Summary: The Family Life Series in one Easy to find place
1. A class in the future a party in the fut...

Title: Family Life Series I: The Class  
Author: Kelly Mullins   
E-mail: Kelly.Mullins@verizon.net   
Web: http://www.gecities.com/musicgrl72/kellyf.html   
Rating: PG... at the most... come on... this is family friendly fic :-)  
Season: Future...  
Spoilers: Mini ones for Upgrades, The Curse, Rite of Passage, and Red Sky, the world will not end if you haven't seen them.  
Archive: SJ yes, Helio yes, everyone else yes!  
Keywords: Sam/Jack romance, future story  
Summary: A class in the future... a party in the future... a life in the future.  
Authors' note: Based on real life events... sorry no not in relationship to SJ... we wish... this fic takes place in a perfect world... I don't recognize it. Oh and Sappy as all get out... really!  
I LOVE e-mail and whether good of bad I will respond. Flames are used to power Teal'c's staff weapon.   
Thank you: Rodlox for the help, KansasKellyBob for the constant willingness to read my fic at all hours... anyone else...   
Dedication: Isaiah... welcome to the family  
Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me. "Fan fiction is for people with original ideas just not original characters."   
  
The Class  
By. Kelly L Mullins  
He was being watched, he could feel their eyes on him, men and women alike- both groups equally interested in what he and his pillows were doing there alone.  
In truth he had no idea what he was doing there, okay so he knew the basic reason, and as he'd been reminded on several occasions lately, he knew this was all his fault. But nothing explained why he and his pillows, who had never been out of their bedroom before this, had ended up with this group of people, all at least 20 years younger than him.  
"Colonel Jack O'Neill?" The woman was asking, she was looking at him.  
"Retired." He corrected before shaking his head. "Present."  
"Good, I see you've brought your pillows, here's your book, it's good to take notes."  
"Thank you." He took the book and flipped though the pages before he felt too squeamish. He'd thought battling the Goa'uld had prepared him for anything- he'd been wrong.  
  
Finally the door opened, but it wasn't her, it was a young girl, couldn't have been much older than Cassandra, and she was alone. He watched as she gave her name to the woman and received her book. When she was looking for a seat he motioned for her to join him- he was alone, she was alone, it just made sense.  
"Thank you Sir, I was really worried no one would talk to me." She too had brought her pillows; one she sat on while the other went under her feet on the chair Jack had placed in front of her.  
"This does seem like a pretty set group." He commented.  
"From what I've heard most of the people work here... so they've all met."  
"Ah."  
"I'm Alicia Jenkins." He took her hand.  
"Jack O'Neill."  
"Colonel Jack?"  
"Retired." Had become his automatic response to that phrase.  
"You used to come to my elementary school and play with us, you're Cassandra Fraiser's father aren't you?"  
"Ah no, I'm just a friend of Cassie's mom and we used to work together."  
"Oh, sorry. How is Cassie now? It's been a while since I've seen her."  
"How old are you?" He asked ignoring her question.  
"17, last time I saw Cassie her boyfriend Dominic had just broke up with her."  
"You're only 17 years old? How did you end up here?"  
"Dominic broke up with Cassie- for me."  
"Oh." Understanding dawned on him. "So where is he?"  
"Work." They were silenced; as the woman seemed to make the decision everyone who was coming was there, yet she still hadn't arrived.  
  
An hour later they paused for a break. Ally went to use the restroom while Jack retrieved milk and cookies for the two of them.  
Finally she walked though the door, over an hour late yes, but at least his pillows would have a purpose.  
"Sorry I'm late, General Andrews needed some paperwork done that just couldn't wait."  
"Don't worry, I made friends." She took one of the milks out of his hand without asking.   
"Thanks. I miss anything important?"  
"Nothing I'm willing to tell you about, but we do have this handy work book that I'm sure explains everything." He handed over the book before eating his cookie as fast as he could before she managed to steal it too.  
"How was your day?" She finished his milk and handed the empty carton back to him.  
"Pretty good I guess, fished a bit- didn't catch anything." He grinned. "Teal'c tell you he was coming over?"  
"I told him he needed to see the new place, didn't mention the lake to him."  
"He really didn't seem too thrilled to see it, I think he's going to be offering up his place for get-togethers from now on."  
"Guess we won't be treated to his kol-nor-chanting at all hours anymore." She giggled. "The quiet'll be good."  
Ally joined them, taking her seat back on the other side of Jack.  
"Hi."  
"He..." The woman telling the class to take their seats cut her off.  
"You're late." She looked down at her book. "You *are* Colonel Samantha Carter?"  
"Yes."  
"Retired?"  
"Not that I know of." She looked oddly to Jack who only shrugged.  
"He's got your book." She said before standing to point at a flipbook.  
  
"Wait a minute, Ma'am, now you're telling me that is gonna get *that* big?" Jack held up his hands to illustrate his point.  
"Yes Colonel- it's nature's way."  
"Nature's way? It seems like the most unnatural thing I've ever heard of! And I'm *retired*."  
"This process has been going on since the dawn of time, just because you can't wrap your mind around the concept doesn't mean it's not right." Jack sat back with a huff before the woman started a video for the class- real people who had gone through this before them, yeah right, this guy was more fake than Daniel talking about modern weapons.  
I've been through all of this before... but they never made me go to any of these classes, I understand why now too, no one wanted to hear my comments on the subject, I was supposed to be a bystander... and now I'm a part of it... and I'm scared. Jack thought to himself.  
The next part of the class made Jack uncomfortable, he had to get out of his chair- he knees protested, and then put Sam's chair in front of his while he helped her sit backwards on the chair with her back facing him. He then had to lean forward on his own chair to reach Sam's back, which he was supposed to be massaging. Thankfully their teacher decided to use Ally as an example so he didn't feel so bad about paying attention to the tired Colonel.  
"Now you should massage your partner's back, make sure she knows you're there for her- I don't care if you're dying of thirst, you *do not* leave the room." She looked to Jack, having already pegged him as her 'problem' student.  
They did massage and breathing for a very long time, everyone was starting to get a bit worn out from it all- thankfully Sam's cell phone started ringing.  
At that magical ring tone Sam was up and out of her chair so fast Jack would have sworn she was wearing an armband again. As quickly as she had left she came back- apologizing to their teacher and dragging Jack and their pillows out of the room.  
  
"Who called?" He asked out in the parking lot.  
"Rya'c, Thor's here and he wants to see you, but as per your agreement he won't beam you up until you tell him to."  
"Oh. So we're going to the SGC?"  
"Yes." She let him drive her car; she knew he really loved it when she let him play male chauvinist.   
"Did Thor happen to say what he wanted to see me about? Despite the fact that I'm the liaison between the Asgard and Earth I made it very clear to him last time that I'm retired now." She giggled quietly at the memory of what had spawned his tirade that night that Thor got the urge to talk to his human buddy.  
"I don't know if Thor said or not... Rya'c didn't mention a reason... and you know how he usually is about details."  
"He'd better not need any more stupid ideas, you're not going back out there for a while." She pouted and he knew he'd hit on yet another sensitive subject. "Sorry."  
  
The SGC was crowded with vehicles as the two parked and then took the elevator down to their facility. They didn't see another person though after they signed in... it was creepy, especially considering there was an alien ship orbiting the planet just waiting to beam one of their people up.  
When the pair made it to the control room Lieutenant Rya'c Jaffa was the only one on duty, not even Walter Davis was waiting around for Jack's big moment with the little grey man- nice to know he was loved so much since his retirement... again.  
"Good evening Rya'c, where is everyone?"  
"I do not know Sir, my father returned through the Stargate this morning and I have not seen him since that moment." Rya'c's decision to join the US military had pleased his father to no end, and due to Rya'c's 'unique medical condition' he was stationed at Cheyenne Mountain indefinitely.   
"I saw him earlier... we fished... but he left without mentioning anything about his plans, he was kinda in a hurry." The young man shuddered involuntarily at the mention of the pastime the humans referred to as *fishing*.  
"Where's my Asgard cell phone?" Jack asked looking around the familiar control room that hadn't changed much since he'd retired.  
"Here Sir." Rya'c opened his hand to show the over grown crystal.  
"Ah, thank you Riles." He took the crystal and pushed it- Jack was beamed up just in time to see Rya'c's disgusted face at his nickname.  
"I *know* that wasn't right." Sam said as she turned circles in the empty Asgard room with Jack.  
"Hum... maybe we were standing too close?"  
"I don't think so," She had to fight the urge to add Sir to that sentence. "Asgard technology isn't like Goa'uld technology- the Goa'uld need rings and a specific area, the Asgard on the other hand can beam up anything anywhere. Like that crystal in your hand Jack, they could just beam it up and leave your hand, which would be good for you." Despite the fact that there had been some sort of technical glitch and they'd ended up on an Asgard ship with no little grey butts in sight, he still let her rattle off her science speak.  
"So Thor wanted you up here too?" He opened the door for them and led the way out into the corridor. "Makes sense I guess, we have kinda become a package deal."  
Jack knew his way around Thor's ship 'the Carter' better than he did their new house and soon he had led them to the bridge.  
The place was dead silent and darker than usual, especially considering Thor had just flown in from who knows where.   
"Thor... buddy?" He called.  
"SURPRISE!" The lights came on to reveal the missing staff from the SGC including the errant Asgard and some very welcome Tok'ra faces.  
"Am I having a heart attack?" Jack asked Sam idly as the crowd pressed in on them.  
"I don't know about you, but I am." She laughed as she received a hug from her father. "What're you doing here Dad?"  
"Thor called me, he was stressing about how his relationship with Jack was going to change- it was right after Jack had broke the news to him. After we talked about it he decided to do something nice for you."  
They looked around at the pink, yellow, and blue balloons dotting the massive Asgard command centre. The whole place was decorated with the three colours in the exact same amounts.  
"Still not going to tell us?" Daniel asked joining the group.  
"Nope, we know, we'd just like it to be a surprise for the rest of you."  
"Selmak claims to know, but she's not telling me anything." Jacob added resting his arm around his daughter's shoulders.  
"No one is going to know- I want it to be special."  
"Yeah well in the meantime you're making yourselves very hard to shop for." Cassandra pulled Sam into a hug. It seemed that these people were just materializing out of thin air, and knowing Thor that was probably true. "I can't even get the information out of mom."  
"Ya see, she knows if she told you that we'd be forced to kill not only you but her too... and if she's dead who's gonna be around to bring this Space Monkey back to life?" Jack said before ruffling Daniel's hair.  
"Hey!"  
"Anyone seen Teal'c?" Jack ignored the frustrations of his friend.  
"I am here O'Neill, I was tempted not to attend- it does take me quite some time to recover from fishing."  
"Teal'c buddy! Glad ya made it, did Riles come up too?"  
"He does not appreciate that appellation O'Neill, and no, Rya'c could not attend, someone must supervise the Stargate."  
"Oh yes, I know how bad those 'gates are for getting up and walking away."   
In the 10 years the group had known each other not a single person had changed much... sure they're grown apart and together over the years but nothing was really that much different from the first time SG-1 had stepped though the Stargate.  
SG-1 was no longer SG-1, the team was now entirely composed of 'new blood', even Sam had been reassigned recently... along with Daniel and Teal'c who had left a year before when Jack had decided it was time to retire again and stay that way.   
Teal'c was still fighting for the freedom of all Jaffa on Chulak, and doing pretty good if the amount of non-goa'ulded children was any indication. He was now living on the planet with Drey'ac and only coming back to earth to assist in important manoeuvres or visit his son and friends.  
Daniel had decided he liked being out in the field and was now only doing off world excavations- he wasn't dying as much any more much to the relief of Doc Fraiser.  
Cassandra had finally made it to college... with out the benefit of Dominic... her exact words on that subject, after Sam and Janet had introduced her to their best friends Ben and Jerry, had been 'Good Riddance'.  
Sam and Jack had come together with his final retirement and were now, more than ever, joined at the hip. The two had started a new life together and were in the process of creating a new life too. All things in the land of the SGC were finally going their way, of course there were still losses and battles and bad things... but they all knew that bad things happened and there was nothing any of them could do but overcome.   
The whole SGC, minus Rya'c of course, moved to a chair Thor had set out for the happy couple... it was gift time.  
"Presents!" Jack half way squealed as they were each handed one, they looked at the gift tags and exchanged their gifts before starting to open them. Jack finished with the ripping of the wrapping paper before Sam, as she had to save it and fold it all nice and neat. "Uh Teal'c buddy... I don't think this'll fit."  
"It is not for you O'Neill." The little blue outfit had fish and fishing poles dotting it with the words 'Fishing is life' on it, the next thing out of the bag gained a whole room worth of laughter... Teal'c had picked out a bib that proudly stated 'Grandpa's Fishing Buddy'.  
"Gee thanks Teal'c."  
"It is also not for you O'Neill... Jacob Carter has also expressed an extreme urge to fish on several occasions. I'm sure he will enjoy these gifts more so than you." Jack nodded and moved on to the next gift... he could always go back to the grandpa implication later.  
They received quite a large amount of clothing... with toys and other necessities added for good measure.  
"O'Neill... one last gift." Thor joined them, looking for all the world like a four year old child giving his parents some piece of treasured art work. Thor opened a blue case and handed the medallion inside to Sam.  
"Oh Thor, it's beautiful."  
"It is more than that Samantha, it is a Protected Persons Medallion, your child will not be harmed by the Goa'uld if it is wearing this."  
"Thor Buddy... ya think you could mass produce these things for every person on Earth?"  
"I am sorry O'Neill... there is only one, and your child has been chosen to receive it."  
"Thank you Thor, you really have no idea how much this means to us." The little grey man walked away... he had done his duty and he was proud that after the exhaustive search for the recipient of the Protected Persons Medallion O'Neill and Carter's unborn child had been chosen.  
It was hours later when the party finally seemed to be winding down, they'd eaten, they'd talked, they'd done presents (the best part) and they'd even had a very special gift given to them from the Asgard High Council, things finally seemed to be going their way.  
"So Jack... you still haven't told us how the class went." Daniel all but asked as they readied for beam-down.  
"Oh you know how they are... you've been to one you've been to 'em all."  
"Jack, you have only been to one." Jacob reminded.  
"Yeah yeah... all I'm saying is that most of the stuff they say in there is just to scare the guys."  
"You seemed to be the only one disturbed." Sam taunted as they found themselves in the 'gateroom.  
"It's creepy... not to try and freak you out or anything," He put an arm around her waist and kissed her temple. "I'm just *very* glad you're the woman... I'm not brave enough to take on that challenge."  
"Are you saying O'Neill, that the course 'Prepared Childbirth' did not make your preparations for your child complete?"  
"I'm saying that I will never be prepared... but I'll be happy with what I can get." The group was already tired and partied out but they still managed to go out to dinner with the reasoning that despite the fact that they were all the same people their lives took many twists and turns, and none of them ever knew what was going to come at them around the next bend... whether it be children or Goa'uld only time would tell.  
END! 


	2. Jack a baby and a milk shortage?

Title: Family Life Series II: The Lecture  
Author: Kelly Mullins   
E-mail: Kelly.Mullins@verizon.net   
Web: http://www.gecities.com/musicgrl72/kellyf.html   
Rating: PG... at the most... come on... this is family friendly fic :-)  
Season: Future... but all 'cannon' events cut off about beginning of season 5.  
Sequel: This is the sequel to 'The Class'  
Spoilers: None that I can spot  
Archive: SJ yes, Helio yes, everyone else yes!  
Keywords: Sam/Jack romance, future story, emplied future violence  
Summary: Jack... a baby... and a milk shortage???  
Authors' note: Based on real life events (again)... sorry no not in relationship to SJ... we wish... this fic takes place in a perfect world... I don't recognize it. And I have no clue where the name Carey came from, I was lying in bed trying to sleep and I just thought 'they have this baby... Carey' and henceforth she has been known as Carey :-)  
Thank you: KansasKellyBob and Lucy for their constant willingness to read my fic at all hours... anyone else... you too.  
Dedication: Isaiah... please sleep  
Disclaimer: These characters don't belong to me. "Fan fiction is for people with original ideas just not original characters."   
  
The Lecture  
By. Kelly L Mullins  
There was screaming, and no matter what he did Jack O'Neill couldn't block out the sound. He rolled over, buried his head under his pillow and then it hit him- Sam was 'out of town' (on another planet) and he had baby duty.  
"Shhh Care." He said picking up the screaming child from her cradle beside his bed. "Daddy's here." It was then that the scent hit him and Jack quickly made his way down the hall to Carey's room.   
"You a stinky baby?" He asked putting a pacifier in her mouth as he unsnapped her outfit. Jack then pulled the sleeper off before taking a peek inside her diaper. "Eew Care, that's worse than Charlie." He commented before cleaning her up and finding her a new sleeper.  
"You ready to go back to bed?" He asked tossing the diaper and outfit into their separate containers so Sam wouldn't have to waste her time yelling at him when she got home. As he was walking down the hall she spit the pacie out of her mouth with a wail- Jack was thankful he'd had the foresight to clip it to her new sleeper. As Jack put it back in her mouth he found his hands gripped under his daughter's iron grip, his hand was now stuck holding the pacie against her mouth. Finally it clicked... this was the same way she would be hanging on to Sam's breast if she were nursing.  
"Okay kid, so you're hungry?" The two made their way to the kitchen, and to the refrigerator where the expressed milk was lined up in a nice little row of bottles. Jack randomly selected one and heated it as quickly as possible- Carey had realized there was nothing coming out of her pacifier, and she wasn't very happy about it.   
"Here ya go kiddo. Warm but not too warm, aged to perfection, just the way you like it from Daddy." The three-week-old greedily sucked at the bottle, a quick look at the kitchen clock showed he had fed her only two hours before, at that rate they were going to run out before Sam could get home.  
  
Jack took his new, brown haired daughter into their living room to sit in the big rocker.  
"What do you think of all this Care?" He watched her immature eyes dart around the darkened room. "You've been born into a strange world. I mean your mom's with me, which should be enough to scare anyone. You're the only person in the universe the Goa'uld can't touch no matter what, which is something to be proud of, trust me." He smoothed her hair and adjusted the bottle before going on. "Sam, that's your Mom, is the most brilliant person I've ever met, it's gonna be pretty scary when you get old enough to do that science stuff she does.  
"Your Mom's on another planet right now, with your Uncle Danny and Uncle T., I'm not sure if you're going to grow up knowing about your Mom's job, but if we decide not to tell you, I'm sure you'll find out somehow- your Mom talks in her sleep and you'll know how easy I am to confuse." Jack yawned, his little girl mimicking the action only seconds later.  
"You as tired as I am Care?" She had finished the bottle, which he just let sit on an end table. "What do you say we go back to bed?" He burped her as he walked back to his bedroom. He sat her in her bassinette, following the 'back to sleep' directions that were on her diapers (items he was all too familiar with).  
"*Please* sleep well Care bear." She seemed to follow orders as her baby eyes closed. "Oh and Carey, your grandpa's an alien." He added before falling back onto his bed and into the deep, but fleeting, sleep of a new parent.  
  
Somehow Carey managed to sleep through the entire night (or what was left of it), and it was 9 am before she started screaming enough to awaken her worn out father.  
Jack had just rolled over and grabbed his screaming child when the phone started ringing. He didn't care if it was a telemarketer, a bill collector, or even the Pope himself... despite the fact that he wasn't Catholic- any adult was a welcome change, for once he was excited at the prospect of an adult conversation.  
"O'Neill residence." He answered the phone in the nice-mannered way Sam had taught him.  
"Colonel," It was Sam's best friend Janet Fraiser, Jack got worried.  
"What is it? Did something happen to Sam? Is she hurt?"  
"No Colonel, Sam's fine, I was just calling to see if you had the time to stop by the base?" That wasn't a question, he hadn't been retired *that* long, and the woman still held control over his medical future.  
"In that case, I'm retired Doc. So, What's up? I forget to do some ancient paperwork and Andrews didn't feel like calling himself?"  
"No Colonel, we just have some things for you." She paused. "Is that Carey crying?" As if it could be any other baby in his house.  
"Yeah, she's kinda hungry, we just got up. Do you know when Sam's coming home? We're running kinda low on milk around here."  
"Should be another couple of days at least." She sighed, thinking again how unfair it was that her friend had let her CO pressure her into going back to work *voluntarily* so soon. "I'll let you go then. You'll be here around 1000?" She had given another order in the form of a question; she was really quite good at that.  
"Yeah, I'll feed her a bottle and then we'll both hop in the shower and be right there."  
"Be careful Sir, they're slippery when wet."  
"Huh?"  
"Babies, they get very slippery when you give them a bath... or as the case may be a shower."  
"Oh, thanks, point taken, we'll be careful." They hung up and he hurriedly made his way into the kitchen doing a repeat performance of the pervious night's (or was it morning's?) bottle warming activities, noticing that he was down to only one more bottle in the refrigerator.   
  
Carey was really enjoying her time with her Dad, or at least Jack liked to think so, he thought as he took her out back to sit by the lake as they ate their breakfasts. He'd grabbed a bagel out of the package without heating it up or anything for himself and Carey was happily sucking her bottle and falling back to sleep.  
Sam had decided to go back to work after only two weeks of maternity leave, Jack personally thought it was too soon, but General Andrews pressed the issue stating that now SG-1 was back together he wanted them out there. Of course General Andrews didn't mention the fact that Teal'c had only come back for a few months to stay with Rya'c and brief the president and joint chiefs on the state of Chulak. Sam had been very sorry to leave her baby, but she had to do what she had to do to assure Carey had a planet to grow up on, at least that was the way she saw it, to Jack it was just another way for the US Air Force to screw the two of them over.   
Once they had begun their romantic relationship and he had finally decided that it would be a good thing for him to just retire and get it over with once Sam got her promotion, things had quickly progressed and the two had soon found themselves buying a house with a lake and having a baby. It was about the time Sam announced her pregnancy that 'Air Force officials' approached Sam, they threatened her with court martial for her involvement with a superior officer despite the fact that he was retired, according to them it 'painted a bad picture for the Air Force' and 'might encourage other officers, and even enlisted soldiers to behave in the same, unacceptable manner'. Thankfully the newly retired (at that time) General Hammond had been able to call in a few favours and had the investigation into Sam's misconduct halted with the understanding that Jack and Sam wouldn't be appearing in any recruitment videos in the near future.  
So Sam had gone back to work. In the four days she had been back they had gone on two short missions and she had come home more and more worn out every night, he was worried about her, but she had to look strong... it was very important to her that she not look like the weak motherly type. True she loved her baby and she was playing the 'good mommy' by breast-feeding, but it was still important for her to not look vulnerable.  
Jack was enjoying being a stay at home Dad this time, he had never realised how much he had missed when Charlie was in the first few weeks of his life. He looked around their yard imagining the swing set he knew would soon occupy a part of the space, and he was going to be around to watch her play and go though everything in this house by the water.  
Jack realized the baby had finished her bottle sometime during his reverie and was looking up at him expectantly.   
"Okay, I know... Doc wants us at the base in half an hour." He burped her, getting a hearty belch from her small body before he wiped the milk from her lips and headed back inside.  
Jack carried the sleeping baby into her room to get a diaper and an outfit for her to wear to Cheyenne Mountain. They hadn't really taken her out much since her birth, so most of her clothing was still unworn. He selected her 'Fishing is Life!' outfit, adding a pink little headband and headed out to find his own clothes.  
  
Once he had everything they could possibly need; Jack turned on the water before stepping in to make sure it wasn't too hot for his baby girl. He didn't know how she was going to react to the cascading water; his only experience with children and showers had been Charlie begging to join his father one morning when he had been about five years old. Needless to say, he hadn't really liked it much, now Jack had Carey and he was afraid the water would really scare her.  
Jack O'Neill washed as quickly as possible, Carey didn't seem upset but they were still going to be late for Doc Fraiser's mystery appointment. He washed both of them with baby soap, just to avoid her getting any of the evil adult stuff in her eyes or mouth.  
"Are you gonna smell like Daddy?" He shifted her, understanding the 'slippery when wet' comment as well as why he was always told to pick his son up with a towel after a bath when he was toddler. "No, I think Daddy's going to smell like you." He turned off the water and stepped out, quickly wrapping a towel around Carey. She woke up and started to cry.  
"Care, Care, Care... come on honey, Daddy's gotta get himself, and then you, dressed." He stated cooing and at last resort, bouncing her around the bathroom.  
If someone had told Jack O'Neill three years ago that he would be retired again (this time for good), standing naked in his house by the lake, attempting to bounce his three week old screaming daughter to silence he would have asked them what kind of cheap stuff they'd been smoking.  
Giving up, he opened the door and walked to Carey's room to get her dressed in an environment he could control, a pacifier equipped environment. He put the pacie in her mouth, hoping it would stay there and keep her occupied; he silently apologized to Sam, she hated using the things.  
Once the baby was dressed (Jack was very proud of himself, and he thought Sam would be too) he made his way to his and Sam's room glad that the neighbours were pretty far away as he wasn't even wearing a towel. He laid the baby on the bed while he quickly clothed himself and pulled on his shoes. Soon they were both ready to go, he grabbed the diaper bag and last bottle of milk and they were off.  
  
Once they arrived at Cheyenne Mountain (five whole minutes early), they were waved through security. Right up until he pulled Carey out of her car seat in the back seat of his truck, it seemed to Jack just like the old days. Once Carey was in his arms he pulled her 'protected persons' medallion out of the blue box he had quickly tossed in her diaper bag before leaving their house, and put it around her neck. This was the way they had decided to do it, Carey would wear the medallion when she was near the Stargate or whenever there were Alien Visitors on Earth. This was only the second occasion she'd had to wear it, the first being when her grandfather had come to visit and explain in detail when and where the 'Protected Persons' medallion was to be worn.  
He walked through the upper levels of the facility, the NORAD personnel staring openly at the man walking through the cold halls carrying Carey as if she weren't an unusual thing to have around on a high security base.   
Everyone at the SGC had heard of Carey's birth, but very few people had actually seen the infant. This one little fact made Jack a very popular man as he walked through the corridors towards the infirmary; it seemed that Jack and Sam weren't the only ones who thought Carey was the most beautiful baby they'd ever seen.  
"Now Care, this can be a truly scary place," Jack said, once they had shed their followers right outside the infirmary. "But don't worry honey, Daddy won't let your Aunt Janet poke you with anything sharp."   
He took the plunge and pushed open the doors, afraid of what he might see on the other side.  
"There you are Colonel." Doctor Janet Fraiser came out to greet them.  
"See Doc, told ya we could make it."  
"Yes." She smiled and took Carey from him.  
"So... what are we here for? Everything looks relatively calm."  
"You got a delivery last night, right after Andrews extended SG-1's mission. Evidently Sam didn't want Andrews knowing because it's not in the log, it was packed on dry ice in some medical supplies she knew only I would be unpacking."  
"Okay... so what is it?" Returning the sleeping baby, Janet walked into the treatment area and returned with a small box. She took Carey back from Jack before handing him the cool box.   
He opened it cautiously, weary of what might jump out at him, nothing did, he was immensely relieved at what *was* inside though.  
"She sent a note for me, said 'please get these to Jack, couldn't wait any longer, I'm sure he'll be needing them anyway'. Was she right?"  
"Yeah, last one's in the bag." He set the box of frozen baggies of breast milk down, taking his precious daughter from her Aunt.  
"Are you staying for General Carter?"  
"What?"   
"General Carter... Sam's Dad... your father-in-law?"  
"I know who you're talking about Doc, I just didn't know he was coming."  
"Yes, Sir, he's arriving at noon."  
"And why didn't anyone tell me?" He asked, exasperated.  
"I don't know Sir, I believe General Andrews was who the message came to."  
"Ya know, I think Andrews is just looking to get me into trouble, I mean, I married Jacob's only daughter, the only thing that could possibly be worse would be to forget him at the hypothetical 'airport'." The only reaction Jack got out of Janet was a small half smile... he was really starting to miss Sam.  
  
Jack wandered around for a while... he located his wife's lab, oddly enough it was still right where it had been the last time he had been there. He tinkered a bit, regretting the fact that he had left Carey's carrier in his truck, and finally gave up, realising that it wasn't as much fun breaking Sam's toys when she wasn't around.  
Carey woke up and demanded food so, having nothing better to do, he took her to the commissary and pulled out her last bottle, Sam's little delivery a welcome thought in his mind.   
People Jack had known and people he'd never seen before in his life passed him as he sat in a chair trying to hold the bottle in Carey's mouth and get a spoonful of strawberry Jell-O into his own mouth at the same time. Eventually both managed to finish their meals... which worked out great for Jack considering it was nearly time for Jacob to arrive. All Jack had to do was figure out a way to change Carey's diaper and they'd be set to see grand-pa, only the SGC didn't seem to have diaper changing stations in their bathrooms, which left Daniel's office as the closest place for him to be able to set his baby girl down.  
  
Daniel's office hadn't changed much either, maybe it had become a bit more cluttered considering he was looking at *all* the base's rocks (artefacts). But other than that he could still see that this room clearly screamed 'Daniel!', very similar to how Carey was screaming at her increasingly wet diaper. He set her down and realised that not only did he need a diaper, but a whole new outfit as well... this was all right, he'd come prepared. Jack went digging in the diaper bag and found all the necessary items- diaper, wipes, and cute outfit of baby jeans and a t-shirt with a little baby in a fishing hat that said 'Grandpa Says I'm A Keeper'. He lay Carey on some papers (probably the lost manuscript of a dead civilisation) Daniel had haphazardly strewn across one of his tables and changed her quickly not wanting to be late for Jacob's arrival.  
"All right Care, ready to go see your Grandpa?" The baby just looked up at him trough hooded eyes as he tossed her diaper in Daniel's trash can (a gift for later) and headed towards the elevator that would take him down to the level the 'Gate was on.  
He boarded the elevator with a woman he'd never seen before... he'd only been away from the SGC for a little over a year and even in that time he'd been back several times due to the Asgard or Tok'ra or anyone wanting to see him.  
"Oh what a beautiful little girl." She said. "A girl, right?"  
"Yeah," Normally he would have made a sarcastic remark about the bow in her hair but chose not to, instead settling for a polite thank you.  
The woman continued speaking to Carey. "What's your name?"  
"Carey." He answered for her.  
"Oh that's a pretty name, you're a pretty little girl visiting with your grandpa." The comment had almost passed over Jack's head, what with the woman's idiotic baby talk and her not actually looking at him he'd nearly missed being called Carey's grandfather.   
"Oh I'm sorry... I guess we've never met Captain, you are...?" Jack baited her.   
"Captain Albertson." He looked at her expectantly, waiting for her to elaborate. "Of the *new* SG-1" Her inflection clearly showed the distinction in how everyone referred to the two SG-1 teams.  
"I knew your name sounded familiar." He said quickly, not giving an inch as to who he was. "You know why the Tok'ra are coming?"  
"General Carter's the only one coming from what I've heard, something about a grandkid." The elevator thankfully came to a stop and the doors slid open, both of them exited and headed for the Control Room.  
Jack O'Neill entered the familiar looking control room, thankful General Andrews wasn't there at that moment. Sgt. Walter Davis, always at the 'gate controls, turned to face him.  
"Colonel, aren't you supposed to be..."  
Jack cut him off. "At home, right, Care and I needed to stop by and pick something up... that was when we heard her Grandfather was coming through." Walter seemed to notice Carey's presence at that time and took her quickly from her father's arms. "So, Walter, heard anything from the Tok'ra or SG-.75?"  
It took Sgt. Davis a minute to fully comprehend what Jack meant, so he asked anyway. ".75, Sir?"  
"Yeah, just isn't quite SG-1 without me, is it?"  
"No, I guess not, Sir."  
"You're Colonel O'Neill?" Captain Albertson looked up from some computer screen she'd been studying. Jack nodded. "*The* Colonel O'Neill? Of the Original SG-1?" This was quickly becoming hero worship, something that made Jack extremely uncomfortable.  
"That would be me, retired of course, got the baby to look after now."  
The 'gate began activating and before Jack could blink he was holding Carey again. It was a good thing too, Andrews had joined them, and he didn't seem to thrilled at the prospect of seeing Jack.  
"Receiving Tok'ra IDC." Walter announced to the icy room.  
"What are you doing here O'Neill? Colonel Carter's team isn't due back for two more days."  
"Yeah, heard that. No, I'm not here for Sam, I'm here because my daughter's grandfather, who just happens to be my father in law, is supposed to be coming through that 'gate right now." For once in his life, Jack O'Neill's timing was perfect, the moment he pointed to the active wormhole the lone form of General Jacob Carter popped out.  
O'Neill was down to the Gateroom before Andrews even realised he was gone.  
"Jack!" Jacob came to a halt at the end of the ramp as the wormhole disengaged behind him.   
"Jacob! How's Tok'ra life treating ya?"   
"Pretty good," They started on their way to the infirmary. "How's family life been treating you?"  
"Oh Carey's great, Sam's just a bit overworked."  
"Where is Sam?"  
"Offworld."  
"Offworld, as in on another planet?"  
"Yes Sir, Andrews pressured her into it. He's been holding our relationship over her head and was implying that he'd have her removed from her active position permanently if she didn't cut her maternity leave short."  
Jacob turned swiftly on Jack. "He took *my* baby from *her* baby? Sam's been waiting her entire life for this opportunity... she may not act like it, but she's always wanted to have the perfect husband and the two-point-five kids..."  
"I'm sorry Sir," He interrupted Jacob's tirade in the middle of the corridor about his wife's personal motives. "she feels she owes the Air Force for dropping the investigation, and he's been using that against her." They reached the infirmary, Jacob still fuming, but discussing the issue of proper retaliation silently with his Body-Buddy Selmak.   
Soon, Jacob Carter had been poked, prodded, and scanned. He was apparently in perfect health, other than for the fact that there was something that resembled a Goa'uld in his brain- but no one seemed too concerned about it and he was released to go topside. He was content to feed his granddaughter a bottle, speak to her father, and bounce ideas of retribution off his symbiote. General Andrew Andrews was going to pay for making his daughter not be able to be the one there feeding her little girl, it was all a matter of time. END! 1st May 2002 


	3. Just when you think you can't get any mo...

Title: Family Life Series III: The Trip   
Author: Kelly Mullins   
E-mail: Kelly.Mullins@verizon.net   
Web: http://www.gecities.com/musicgrl72/kellyf.html   
Rating: PG... this one is a little bit more 'mature' than the other two, but still nothing horrible  
Season: Future... but all 'cannon' events cut off about beginning of season 5.  
Sequel: This is the sequel to 'The Class' and 'The Lecture'  
Spoilers: None that I can spot  
Archive: SJ yes, Helio yes, everyone else yes!  
Keywords: Sam/Jack romance, future story  
Summary: Just when you think you can't get any more tired.   
Authors' note: Based on real life events (again)... sorry no not in relationship to SJ... we wish... this fic takes place in a perfect world... I don't recognize it. And I have no clue where the name Carey came from, I was lying in bed trying to sleep and I just thought 'they have this baby... Carey' and henceforth she has been known as Carey :-)  
Dedication: To Carey O'Neill oddly enough, this was started on her birthday. Carey was adopted by the O'Neill's after I finished the second story (which really freaked me out). She turned 17 the day I started this.  
Disclaimer: These characters really don't belong to me.  
  
Family Life Series III: The Trip  
By. Kelly Mullins (Start: 9th August 2002)  
  
Jack O'Neill was tired. He couldn't remember the last time he'd been to sleep, and that was starting to have its effect on him. He was retired, and his bed was calling him, but no, he'd had to go and retire to be with the woman he loved, and not just his bed.  
For once his 7 month old daughter had obliged him by going to sleep, when her mother had called, waking her up and asking Jack to go to the grocery store. Seemed her father was coming through and was going to be there for dinner, she obviously couldn't get away from the base which left him with not only child care and grocery shopping duties, but cooking dinner and making sure the house was spotless as well. He didn't quite understand what his wife was on, Jacob wouldn't care if there was a speck of dust on a picture frame or if dinner wasn't on the table the minute he walked in the door, but he did whatever he could to make her happy.  
Jack quickly glanced to his, once again, sleeping daughter in the back seat, he never failed to be amazed by some facet of her existence.  
He couldn't believe that her mother, Sam Carter, had been willing to get within 10 feet of her once he'd proclaimed his love for her. He couldn't believe how perfect Carey had been when he'd first started caring for her completely when Sam had gone back to work at three weeks.  
And now, he couldn't believe how much growing up she'd managed to pack into her seven short months. She was crawling, even pulling herself up on occasion. Sitting in her car seat though, she never failed to look like the tiny baby they'd brought home several months before. Arriving at the grocery store, Jack was loathe to wake her up, she had become so much more interested in discovering the world around her lately than she was in sleeping, and quiet times like these had become few and far between.  
Sighing deeply, Jack decided to suck it up and get out of the truck. He walked around to the other side, pulling Carey's stroller out and unfolding it before pulling it back around to the side Carey's car seat was buckled into. In a practised maneuver that would rival most military exercises, Jack managed to get his sleeping daughter from being buckled into her car seat to being buckled into her stroller without waking her up. He quickly grabbed her diaper bag, locked the doors and was soon off, rushing as fast as possible into the bustling grocery store.  
Deciding against trying to deal with both a shopping cart and stroller, Jack grabbed up a basket on his way in, intent on getting only what was absolutely necessary to get through Jacob's visit. After his trip through the meat department and the dairy section, Jack wasn't quite so sure he was going to be able to fit all of his shopping into one basket, but then he realised he had a perfectly good stroller in front of him which he could put his light dry goods on top of. Carey's "roof," for all intents and purposes, became home to the pasta, Jell-O, and Fruit Loops that Jack had been unable to fit into his basket.  
"Oh, what a beautiful baby!" The woman at the checkout exclaimed as Jack unloaded his goods onto the conveyor belt that would lead them to her register. He gave her a smile and a nod of thanks at her comment as she rang up his purchases. "Oh no honey!" The cashier stopped him as he went to make an attempt at juggling the shopping bags and baby stroller. "I'll get someone to carry those out to your car."  
"Thanks, I really appreciate it."  
  
Pulling up to their house, Jack decided to get Carey out of the car and into her crib before worrying about their groceries. Through some miracle of parenting, she was still asleep after her father's trek through the house, up the stairs, and into her bedroom. Jack deposited her into the bed, taking a moment to admire his baby as she took the longest nap she'd managed in the last few months, before sighing once more and turning to get the things out of the car before they spoiled and they had to go through this whole shopping experience once more.  
  
First, Jack cut the chicken and put the noodles on to boil, as the noodles were boiling, he chopped the vegetables before mixing everything together with some sauce and placing it in the oven to cook. Setting the timer, Jack realised with satisfaction that his meal would be coming out of the oven about the time Jacob and Sam were walking in the door from work. Now all he had to do was tidy up some baby toys that Carey had kindly strewn around the house and make sure there were no dirty clothes lurking on the bathroom floors.  
As the food was cooking and Carey was asleep, Jack decided it was the perfect opportunity to do laundry, an activity he'd nearly mastered in the last few months. He gathered the colours into their respective groups before shoving all of the darks into the washer, tossing in some soap, and after stating the thing, went in search of something else he could tidy up. Jacob's "room" became his next victim, he thought that the Tok'ra might enjoy his visit more if he didn't have and break his (their?) neck by tripping over a stray toy Carey might have dragged into the guest bedroom.  
Inside the room in question, Jack found not one, but four toys, a blanket, three socks, and something that looked suspiciously like Nox hair, which had probably come out of the artificial potted plant in the corner. As he was vacuuming, Jack made a mental note to keep a better eye on his daughter as she was crawling around the house.  
As he put the vacuum away, Carey woke up, he assumed it was from the noise he had been making, but as he walking into her bedroom, he found her just sitting peacefully running one of her toys across the bars of her crib, seeming to enjoy the noise it made.  
"Hey Care, ready to get up?" She held her arms out to him, allowing him to pick her up and carry her through the house to check on their meal in the kitchen. Things looked like they were progressing well and he noted there were still over 30 minutes on the timer, with this information in mind Jack took one more glance around himself and decided he and Carey could both use a walk around the lake. Being the newly kitchen savvy person he was, Jack O'Neill set the oven to turn itself off when the timer went off, just in case they got waylaid for some unforeseen reason.  
Carey seemed perfectly content to be carried around by her father for once, intent on watching the ducks swim across the lake. Jack loved this place, he was surprised had been the one to pick it out but, he rationalised, she knew he was going to be spending a good portion of his retirement without her considering her hectic work schedule. He'd only fished the lake a handful of times before Carey had been born and his life had begun to revolve around her, he had actually caught a fish though, which had been a strange, yet not unwelcome surprise.   
Carey's arrival had changed his entire outlook on how he wanted to spend the rest of his life, now his whole life was Sam and Carey, anything else just didn't seem that significant to him anymore. He loved his life now, though he wished he could see Sam more often; Jack had belatedly realised that he saw Sam more while just working with her than living in the same house with her. He continued around the lake, expertly juggling Carey when she saw something interesting and wanted to jump out of his arms in order to get down and explore it. Soon though, Jack decided they should probably get back into the house to make the final preparations for the rest of their family.  
  
By the time Sam and Jacob walked through the front door, they were only marginally late. Jack was playing with Carey on the floor of the living room, the table was set, and the food was all ready to go.  
"Hey Care bear," Jacob greeted his grand daughter first, picking her up to get a good look at her. "you're so big!" He turned to her parents who were now standing side by side. "She's grown so much."  
"She's seven months old now." Jack reminded.  
"Has it really been two months since I've been here?" He turned back to the baby in his arms. "I've missed you kiddo."  
"Dinner's ready if you are." Jack suggested, hoping to get to the dinner rolls before they needed to be re-heated.   
"Oh, sorry Jack but Selmak has just reminded me that Carey should be wearing her PPM."  
"Oops," Sam muttered, before disappearing up the stairs to their bedroom. She returned a minute later to take her infant daughter from her father to slip the Asgard Protected Persons Medallion around her neck. "Hey baby, that's better, isn't it?" Sam walked with Jacob and Jack into the dining room, placing Carey in her highchair and taking a seat next to Jack.  
Jacob was the one to serve, it was their quirky little tradition that had gotten started by accident at the beginning of Sam's pregnancy and that now continued every time Jacob visited. When Jacob was staying at their house, he took over every single domestic duty he could, including making sure Carey was asleep or occupied all night so Sam and Jack could get a full night's sleep, and maybe even a little adult alone time.  
"Thank you for making dinner, honey, it was wonderful." Sam complimented as Jacob cleared away the dishes. Sam stood, picking up her daughter who had managed to catch almost all of her stray food in her bib, and walked into the living room followed closely by Jack. After setting Carey down in the midst of her toys, Sam turned to Jack and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Have I ever told you how much I appreciate you doing everything around here?"  
"Occasionally." He grinned cheekily at her, Sam quickly closed the now very small gap between their mouths to kiss him thoroughly, stopping just soon enough to only have her arms around her husband when her father walked in the room; Sam didn't understand jack's reluctance to have any kind of overt public displays of affection in front of her father, but she respected his feelings... Sometimes, it wasn't as if her father didn't know they were having sex, they were married and had a kid for cryin' out loud.  
"It's still early yet, why don't you guys go out for dessert or something? Selmak and I will watch Carey." Jacob suggested, Sam and Jack stared at each other for a minute before answering.  
"Sure, that would be nice." Sam walked over and kissed her father on the cheek. "Thanks Dad."  
"It's my pleasure Sammy, I don't get to see her nearly enough, and I don't think you get to see him enough." He nodded to Jack, standing by the front door holding her jacket in his hands.  
"All right, we've got both our cells, call us--" Jacob cut her off.  
"I know the drill, get going or it's going to be too late."  
When they got home a few hours later, both Jacob and Carey were asleep, both in their own rooms, but they could see the red light of the baby monitor in Jacob's. With a smile at one another, Sam and Jack made their way to their bedroom like two hormonally over-charged teenagers.  
  
As Jack wandered out of their bedroom and into the kitchen the next morning, things somewhat off. For one thing, neither he nor Sam had been awakened by their daughter screaming at any point during the night, and for another, the aforementioned daughter was sitting contentedly in her highchair, drinking from a sippy cup while simultaneously managing to squash up and spread around something that looked vaguely like breakfast.  
Then he noticed Jacob Carter sitting at the counter having a very in depth telephone conversation and the plot thickened. "Yes Sir, thank you Mr. President, of course I'll tell him. Goodbye Sir, yes, you too." The plot thickened even more as Jacob hung up the phone to face his intrepid son in law... in nothing but boxers. "Geez Jack, do you always walk around in your underwear?"  
"What? It's what I wear to bed. Do you always talk to the president on the phone over breakfast?"  
"He sends you his best, wants some baby pictures." Jacob said, as Jack took a seat next to him and claimed the coffee pot and a mug.  
"What secret thing did you have to speak to him about that you're trying to distract me from?"  
"Nothing Jack, I just had a couple of things I needed clarified."  
"What sort of things?" Jack wasn't going to left the issue drop any time soon.  
"An important family matter."  
"As in our family? Jacob, you're acting too much like a Tok'ra right now, tell me what's going on."   
"I'm attempting to have General Andrews removed from the SGC."  
"Not that I'm opposed to the whole idea... but Sam's going to be pissed."  
"I'm going to be pissed about what?" Sam asked, coming into the kitchen, kissing her daughter and husband on her way to her seat.  
"Your dad drank all the coffee." He gently nudged the pot that was indeed empty closer to Jacob. "Selmak's probably buzzing inside his head." With practised ease, Jacob grabbed the pot and got up, starting to make more coffee for his daughter. In the last couple of years, Jacob and Jack had developed a knack for misleading Sam, it was often useful for surprises, and mysterious stains that just popped up for no reason.  
Jacob loved his family in its current incarnation, even Jack, who was someone he was proud to call a son-in-law. General Andrews, however, was not someone Jacob loved and wanted to see on a daily basis, or ever really. He was determined that upon close examination his record would show something to preclude him from commanding Earth's first line of defence. It was all just a matter of time now, someday soon Jacob would come through the Stargate and his daughter wouldn't be there, not due to tragedy, but because she was taking time off to be home with her family where she belonged.   
END (28 Dec 2002) 


	4. Father in laws are the best

Title: Family Life Series IV: The Meeting Author: Kelly Mullins E-mail: Kelly.Mullins@verizon.net Web: PG... Bit more adult, this one, but I have seen worse on network tele. Season: Future... but all 'cannon' events cut off about beginning of season 5. Also, I'm making Sam older in this so I guess S/J got together a bit later than planned. Sequel: This is the sequel to 'The Class' 'The Lecture' and 'The Trip' Spoilers: Mini for Secrets Archive: SJ yes, Helio yes, everyone else yes! Keywords: Sam/Jack romance, future story Summary: Father-in-laws are the best. Authors' note: Based on real life events (again)... sorry no not in relationship to SJ... we wish... this fic takes place in a perfect world... I don't recognize it. Oh, the restaurant really does exist in DC, just nowhere near the Whitehouse. Disclaimer: These characters really don't belong to me.  
  
Family Life Series IV: The Meeting By. Kelly Mullins  
  
Jack loved his father-in-law; he wondered if that was wrong, perhaps he should hate the man with a passion. But he couldn't, not after turning to look at the woman next to him who was smiling and chatting to the aforementioned father-in-law about the birthday plans they'd made for their daughter's upcoming first birthday. The almost-one-year-old was in her car seat dozing in the back next to her grandfather. This little cross country family trip had been Jacob's maneuvering, hence the son-in-law that was about to hop in the back seat and kiss the man. The Tok'ra operative had come barreling through the Stargate that morning (at least, that's how his wife had told it) demanding to get to Washington so that he could debrief the President on some issues that were of vital importance to Earth/Tok'ra relations. Selmak had refused an airplane claiming she was fighting off a cold for Jacob and airplanes made her efforts too difficult. Reluctantly, General Andrews had let them go, he didn't want to keep the Tok'ra from passing on something vital and inadvertently get the planet blown up. If Jack didn't already detest the man, he'd probably be loving Andrews right now too. Their little drive was going pretty well, 10 hours into it and Jack was about to let Jacob take over. He could tell the only reason Sam was still awake was to make sure he was too, besides, he really was starting to get tired.  
  
The next time Jack was aware of the world around him was his wife waking him up. "Can you get Carey out? I'm going to go get us checked in." He looked around to discover they were in downtown DC, in front of a hotel. "Sure honey, where's dad?" "Getting a cart for our luggage, he's got to take the car and go straight to the Whitehouse." Jack's daughter, the light of his life, woke up and started screaming the second he picked her up. His father-in-law chose that moment to show back up and, using all of his Tok'ra strength and engineering ability managed to get all of their belongings onto one rickety looking cart. With a kiss on his granddaughter's forehead and a sympathetic look directed at Jack, he sped off into the light of the rising sun. Between the two of them, he and Sam managed to coax Carey back to sleep. But, when he reawakened, both his wife and daughter were gone, the clock told him it was noon, and his nose told him a shower would probably be advised before joining fellow people with noses to search for his family.  
  
Twenty minutes later, showered, shaved, and freshly clothed, Jack ventured downstairs into the hotel's restaurant, here he found his two missing family members sitting down to lunch with Jacob. "Hey Jake, how's the Prez?" "He's good, *very* excited about the minor changes to the Tok'ra host selection criteria. He feels, as I do, that it was indeed a matter of grave urgency and is requesting our continued presence for the next three or four days." Jack loved not only Jacob, but the President as well. He was actually starting to get worried, as a tough military-man, was he allowed to love so many men? "That's great news; the President should be as informed as possible." Jack replied a massive grin on his face as he took his wife's hand under the table.  
  
The next day found them on a private tour of the Whitehouse. Their 'guide' the Chief of Staff or something, was taking them everywhere. They'd seen the East Wing, the West Wing, and even the kitchens. This all culminated in the Oval Office, where the President finally got to see Carey, as he had requested several months before. Following a cozy get-together with the President, Jacob and Carey stayed behind for an informal dinner with the President and First Lady while Jack and Sam left to play tourists.  
  
"Think they're upset we didn't stay for dinner?" "No, I'm sure both of them more than understand our situation; we almost never get time to go out to dinner on our own. We're a family, but it is nice to take the time out once in a while to consider giving Carey a little brother or sister." Jack smiled suggestively at his wife before pulling her into a sideways embrace as they walked through the darkening city. "You're crazy, Carey's got us on our heads when we're left alone with her and you want to add another? Just wait until she discovers sugar and caffeine make a good combination... I swear she's definitely got your energy." Their beloved daughter had only started to 'walk' a couple of weeks earlier, and unlike with crawling, she seemed to be off to a running start, managing to get lost within seconds when one of her parents turned their backs. "Ah, as much as I'd like to debate my sanity with you further darling, we're here." Jack directed her into what looked like a little hole in the wall, but once they were inside and the door was closed behind them, it started to look more and more like something straight out of the Godfather.  
  
Once they'd placed their orders and the wine had been delivered, Sam was mighty suspicious. "You've been here before?" "A few times, no one ever comes here if someone else didn't show them to it first." "I thought you got lost every time you come to DC?" She was smiling, though after being married to her for a couple of years, Jack had decided that didn't always mean she was happy. "Some things are worth not losing." He took her hand across the table, and in a grand gesture managed to pull it to his mouth for a kiss without knocking over any of their glasses. The food really turned out to be to die for, as was the wine, which perfectly accented everything they were brought, all the way through dessert. By the time they had walked back to the hotel it was after midnight, and they were very glad they hadn't had to go all the way back to the Whitehouse and explain to Jacob where they had been out so late. As it was, when they arrived in their room they found that all of Carey's things had walked off and a note encouraging them to sleep in in the morning had been left by Jacob and Selmak. So they took their time getting to sleep, enjoying their precious time before they went back to being Carey's parents, a job they loved, but one which could occasionally be trying on their Mommy/Daddy time.  
  
The next morning Jack awoke to Jacob standing over him, a very uncomfortable situation given that he was stark naked, and only covered by a sheet that felt paper thin.  
"Jake?" He asked warily, he wasn't sure this could be a good thing, if it had been nothing the man could have called and waited for him to be decent before barging in on him.  
"Sorry Jack, I had to take the opportunity of Sam taking Carey around the corner to grab us all some breakfast."  
"Use the opportunity for what?" Jack asked, sitting up and trying to wrap the sheet as much around his waist as possible while Jacob sat down next to him in the space Sam had vacated on the bed earlier.  
"To tell you why we're really here, why we've come to see the President on some big *emergency*."  
"Jake, we all know there's no emergency, you're a horrible actor."  
"That's not what I've been hiding Jack, if you'd just let me get this out before your wife walks in on us." Jack nodded his head to show Jacob he could be silent. "Over the last couple of days, there has been a coup at SGC, General Andrew Andrews has been formally charged with several offences and is now facing court martial. I had to keep Sam away while all of this was going on because I didn't want anything else affecting her reputation in the Air Force."  
"So Andrews is no more? How the hell did you manage that one?"  
"Careful planning, what do you think the President and I were really talking about the day we arrived? That was when the plan was put into action and the General was forcibly removed from Cheyenne Mountain. They are currently looking for a new Commander, if you're in the market for a job."  
"Sorry Jake, I'm too busy to run SGC, have you seen the amount of incident reports Siler files in a week? The man should be put in a box so he can't be a danger to himself." He sighed deeply, leaning back against the headboard of the bed. "Besides, I'd done ordering Sam around; she's gotten too fond of giving me orders at home."  
"That is true, she's kind of adopted that way of thinking with me too. When your children have their own children, they gain a bit more leverage over you." He smiled ruefully. "I'd like to see Sam take the job, with us using more and more ships, Stargate traffic has decreased exponentially, she's going to be due for a promotion in two months, she'll be a full bird Colonel... it wouldn't be a bad command position for her."  
"Sammy a Colonel? Phew, time has just flown past. Wasn't she just a Captain a couple years ago?"  
"I'm not even going to ask about your memory, Selmak's helped with mine, so I guess you've just *forgotten* Sam was already a *Lieutenant* *Colonel* before you married her."  
"She'd never take it, Sam loves the lab work, and all that administration would make her crazy."  
At that moment they heard the key card in the door, Jacob had nearly vaulted the bed, and been through his door, closing it behind him before Sam actually managed to get it to successfully read her card and let her in. Jack, noticing that it would look kind of weird for him to be tightly wrapped in the sheet, tried to smooth things out and act like he was just getting up.  
"Care, go get Daddy." Sam said to the baby toddling across the hotel room, as she went and placed their bags of food on the table. Finding his boxers on the floor where, embarrassingly enough, his father-in-laws feet had been not minutes before, Jack quickly pulled them on under the sheets before grabbing his daughter up in a bear hug.  
After making Carey feel sufficiently welcome, Jack left to shower quickly before seeing his father-in-law for the second time that day. It was much easier to face the man with pants on; their acting skills around Sam were getting better, though Jack was already regretting that he couldn't be at SGC to see her face when she discovered the news, maybe he could talk Rya'c into taking a Handy-Cam to work with him... nah the kid was too straight laced.  
"Sorry, Sam," Jacob said while they were eating.  
"Excuse me?"  
"We have get back to Colorado, the Tok'ra recalled me a couple hours ago... some big Council emergency."  
"It's all right Dad, this has been a wonderful vacation, even if we can't stay." She smiled, showing she completely understood her duties and that of her father, there were just some things that had to be sacrificed for Earth, and one of those things was occasionally her happiness.  
  
The drive home was actually fun, Jack and Jacob were both noticeably in good moods, which kept Carey awake for most of the trip, continuously 'singing-along' to her favorite kiddie songs her family had brought. The three adults rotated driving over the 25 hour trip, allowing each other to sleep when they needed. Once back in Colorado Springs, Jack carried Carey in to her crib, where she instantly fell asleep, and then went back out to help Jacob and Sam put the luggage in the living room before the two of them headed off to the base. As Sam was kissing her sleeping baby goodbye and making sure her Protected Persons Medallion was firmly in place on her little chest, Jack and Jacob shared a manly hug. "Thanks for this, all of this." Jack said as Sam came back into the room, clearly ready to leave so that she could find out what on earth (or elsewhere) was so important it couldn't be fixed without her. "Love you." Jack whispered, taking her into his arms and giving her a lingering kiss.  
  
Five hours later, after Jack had taken a nap, done six loads of laundry, and put dinner in the oven, Sam came home. Without saying a word, she jumped him, pressing her lips frantically to his, thankfully, they were in the kitchen and he was able to quickly turn around and rest her against the counter; his knees were not what they once were and could barely support his own weight, let alone both of theirs. "Good day at work, honey?" Jack asked, a cocky grin on his face as Sam started unbuttoning his shirt. "You have no idea. He's gone, he's really gone." He didn't need an explanation, so he just renewed the contact of their mouths. As they continued to express their joy at the demise of General Andrews, Jack realized that this could be the beginning of a trend, probably not this magnitude every evening, but Sam coming home happy after work again. He had never even gotten to see it while they were married, but he'd seen her leave SGC while they had been working together, and unless there had been a horrible tragedy, she always looked happy when she left. A happy Carter was a wonderful Carter, and he hoped to be getting to know her a lot better in their lives still yet to come.  
  
End (29 July 2003) 


End file.
